by Kathy Para
JBA Pro Bono Committee Chair
“I believe pro bono is a necessary, important service lawyers can provide to the underprivileged portion of our community,” said attorney Mickey Davis.
Davis is a Florida Coastal graduate (2009) and was hired as an associate at Johnston and Hammond in July 2010 practicing primarily in the areas of employment law and commercial litigation. She is also making a positive and lasting impact on our community by demonstrating her commitment to pro bono work.
In one of her first pro bono cases, Davis accepted an adoption case. The client’s goal was to legally adopt a child who, since the age of 6 months, had been living with her. Davis’ client and the child had always referred to and treated each other as mother and daughter, although no formal adoption proceedings had been instituted. The client knew that for the stability of their family in the future it would be critical for her to legally adopt the child, now age 4.
Davis had to work through the challenge of facilitating an interstate adoption since the child was born in New York and the natural father could not be located. To complicate matters, the biological mother struggled with drug addiction. This made communication across state lines even more cumbersome, since she was unreliable and difficult to reach.
Regardless, Davis secured a waiver of notice and consent for adoption from the biological mother, thereby allowing her client to legally adopt the child. Davis filed for determination of indigent status on behalf of her client so that the filing fee for the adoption, in excess of $400, would be waived.
The happy outcome was that Davis secured a judgment of adoption for her client. The ruling simply solidified the parent/child relationship that already existed between Davis’ client and child. A family was preserved due to the diligent work of Mickey Davis.
As further evidence of her success, Davis has received pictures from her client since the adoption was finalized indicating both the mother and child are happy, healthy and excited about the future.
Davis states that she was able to gain invaluable experience working closely with her client. Her client has benefitted as well, because she was able to gain a dedicated and passionate lawyer in Davis that she would have been unable to afford otherwise.
Pro bono attorneys like Mickey Davis are making positive and lasting impacts on the lives of low-income and vulnerable persons throughout the Fourth Judicial Circuit.
Attorneys are encouraged to assist one client with one legal matter.
Those interested in assisting with a pro bono client can contact Kathy Para, chair, The Jacksonville Bar Association Pro Bono Committee, at [email protected] or 356-8371, ext. 363.